


Burning Embers

by Miya_Morana



Series: Firelight [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Abuse, Peter Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-06-24
Packaged: 2017-12-16 00:46:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/855854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miya_Morana/pseuds/Miya_Morana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Peter realizes he is indeed part of a pack and cares about its members, and Isaac can't hide his old secrets for ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burning Embers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [morganoconner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/morganoconner/gifts), [queerly_it_is](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerly_it_is/gifts).



> So this one is entirely queerly_it_is and morganoconner's fault, because they put the idea in my head. Well, okay, it's mostly Morgan's fault. :P  
> I'm also going to count it for the "rogues" prompt of my [homebrewbingo card](http://miya-morana.livejournal.com/152803.html), because Peter.

Peter looks down at Cora’s face, trying to match the features of the teenager in front of him with his memories of the eleven-year-old kid he last saw half-an-hour before the fire. Her presence here makes no sense. She must have been in her bedroom, doing homework, when the house burst into flames. 

His memories of Cora morph into more painful ones, those of heat and light and the feeling of the flames burning through his skin, into his flesh, all the way to the bones in places. For a moment, Peter can’t think at all beyond his instinct to survive, to be strong, to not let the fire consume him completely.

Cora whines in her sleep, bringing Peter back to the present. His claws are out, and his teeth have morphed too. He takes a deep breath, brings his body back under his control. By some miracle Cora survived the fire, and he’ll be damned if he lets the fire in his mind make him hurt her. Not like Laura.

Cora whines again, her arm starts twitching until her hand touches Boyd’s. Her heartbeat slows down a little bit, her breathing goes back to normal. Peter leans down, brushes a strand of damp hair from her forehead. After all she must have gone through, he can’t help but wonder who she’ll be when she wakes up. The sweet, innocent little girl he knew years ago is most certainly gone. Will she be as damaged as he is?

“She’s not a killer, you know,” Isaac says, sitting down next to him.

Peter glances at the teenager as he carefully leans back in his chair, trying to look as casual and uncaring as ever. He likes Isaac, even though he doesn’t think the feeling is quite mutual. He’s a bright kid with a sharp tongue, and buried somewhere under his bright smile there’s a darkness, like an echo of Peter’s.

Isaac has taken off his coat and scarf, but his shoes are covered in dirt and he smells like death. Literally. While Peter just got a member of his family back, Isaac was burying his pack sister.

“So it would seem,” Peter says, examining his nails. “Stiles explain his theory when he came by earlier to pick up Scott. Whether he’s wrong or right, they had nothing to do with that kid’s death. It doesn’t mean she’s never killed before, though.”

Six years is a long time.

“I guess you’re right,” Isaac sighs. “At least Boyd isn’t a killer.”

Unless they made him kill Erica, Peter thinks, but he doesn’t say it. He’s never seen Isaac look so…raw. There’s no use rubbing salt in such a new, open wound. Plus, given the timing, it’s more likely that the Alphas killed her themselves, really.

The silence stretches between them, tense on Isaac’s side, more relaxed on Peter’s. Last night’s events might turn out to be exactly what the pack needed. Provided that Cora and this Boyd kid are in their right mind when they wake up, they’ll finally have a full (if still a bit small) pack, and Derek just might get Scott to join them eventually. Deucalion probably has a plan B, he probably has plans C through Z really, but at least he’s off to a bad start.

“Do you think they have anything to do with the sacrifices?” Isaac asks out of the blue. “The Alphas I mean.”

Peter shrugs. “Maybe. Maybe not. I’ve never heard anything about them using dark magic, but as you might remember, I’ve been out of the loop for a while.”

“Dark magic? Because of the whole virginity thing?”

Peter rolls his eyes. “Because of the whole human sacrifice thing. The fact that whoever are behind this are choosing virgins just says that they’re particularly narrow-minded and retrograde.”

Isaac is looking at him with a confused look on his face. It’s kind of adorable, and Peter is half-tempted not to say anything more just so it doesn’t go away.

“What matters when dealing with magic is _belief_. Whoever is killing these kids _believes_ that a virgin is somehow more pure than other people, and thus makes a worthier sacrifice. Being a virgin in itself has no importance at all, believe me.”

“If you say so,” Isaac says, suddenly avoiding Peter’s eyes.

That’s strange, Isaac’s always made a point to look him in the eye, to show that they are equals in the pack and that he isn’t intimidated by him. This sudden shyness can only come from one thing: the topic at hand is something Isaac is embarrassed about. Interesting, Peter things with a sly grin.

“Still, they _are_ targeting virgins,” he says casually. “Who knows if they’ll stop at three.”

Isaac glances towards him, squinting suspiciously. It gives him a coy look that is far too attractive for his own good. Peter smirks and moves his leg so it rests against Isaac’s.

“I’m sure you would make a lovely sacrifice in their eyes,” he continues, seductively raising an eyebrow. “Maybe we should do something about that.” 

Peter is mostly joking, because he likes making people uncomfortable and there are so few things that will actually throw Isaac, but on the other hand, he can’t deny that the teenager is ridiculously attractive and, well, if he wanted to… 

Peter puts a hand on Isaac’s thigh and the kid tenses up, his eyes growing wide has the smell of his sudden fear hits Peter. It’s such a strong feeling that it seems almost irrational, because Isaac has no reason to be afraid of Peter, he’s as strong as him. But Isaac’s heart is beaten too fast, and not in an aroused way, and then Isaac gets up and starts backing away, mumbling.

“That’s… I don’t… I… Not necessary…”

Peter frowns, because there’s sheer distress in Isaac’s voice now, and Derek is running towards them, concern all over his face. He puts a hand on Isaac’s shoulder and Isaac bolts, running out of the loft. Derek turns to Peter, and if looks could kill Peter would be dead all over again.

“What did you do?” Derek asks angrily, pointing an accusing finger at him.

“I’m honestly not sure,” Peter says matter-of-factly. Then, as Derek doesn’t stop glaring, he sighs. “I’ll go sort it out and bring you back your puppy.”

“You’re only gonna make things worse, I’ll go,” Derek says, but Peter grabs his arm.

“No. You’re the Alpha, you need to be there when they wake up. I promise I won’t do anything to your Beta.”

Derek grinds his teeth, but Peter is right, he can’t abandon Boyd and Cora. He has no choice but to let Peter go after Isaac.

Tracking the kid is easy enough, Isaac has no idea how to mask his sent. Peter finds him in that abandoned bus station Derek used to squat for his so-called ‘training’. Isaac is curled up on a beat-up couch, his arms wound tightly around his legs. His heartbeat is quieter that before, though still a little bit too fast.

“Go away,” he says without raising his head.

“Not gonna happen,” Peter says, leaning against a pillar in front of Isaac.

The teen raises his head then, to glare at him. Peter rolls his eyes, because Isaac’s clearly been spending too much time with Derek to be able to pull off the exact same expression his nephew uses when he’s pissed off at him.

“Come on, it wasn’t the first time I made innuendos, and you can’t possibly have been scared I’d force myself on you,” Peter continues, noting how Isaac’s heart skips a bit at the end of his sentence. Isaac looks away and Peter frowns. “You weren’t scared, were you?”

As Isaac stays silent, a dark horrible suspicion worms it way into his mind.

“This wasn’t fear, this was panic. A panic attack.”

“Shut up!” Isaac snaps at him, confirming his suspicion.

Peter can feel his anger start to rise. Isaac is his packmate, whether their pack is dysfunctional or not, and someone has harmed him, in the worst way possible. This was clearly before he was turned, maybe this was the reason he accepted the bite.

“Isaac,” he says as calmly as he can manage, “how about you tell me whose throat I have to go rip off? You can even watch if you want.”

Isaac doesn’t answer, so Peter steps forward until he’s just inches from his packmate, and he crouches down to meet his eyes.

“They can’t hurt you anymore. You know that. But they deserve to pay.”

Isaac refuses to meet his eyes. His scent fills Peter’s nose: remnents of his panic, guilt and shame, a lot of shame.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Peter continues, clamping down on his rage towards this unknown person who took advantage of a kid. “You mustn’t feel guilty. Just tell me who it is and I’ll make sure they don’t hurt anyone else.”

“Jackson already took care of it,” Isaac says in a wisper, without meeting his eyes.

“Jackson?” Peter wouldn’t have expected Isaac to confide in that brat, but stranger things have happened.

“He didn’t know,” Isaac continues, his voice so soft that if Peter weren’t a werewolf he wouldn’t have caught it. “He was just obeying Matt’s orders, and Matt didn’t know either, wouldn’t have cared, he just wanted his own revenge.”

Peter knows that as a Kanima, Jackson had killed a few people, Isaac’s father amongst them. He also knows why Derek had chose him as his first Beta: because Isaac needed to be able to defend himself. From his abusive father. Peter can feel his claw come out, can hear the growl vibrating in his throat as his rage turns to fury. He had no idea he’d grown to care so much for his young packmate that he’d feel so angry. 

Isaac, clearly as surprised as him, finally meets looks at Peter, and those blue eyes bring Peter back to reason. His claws retract and he stops the noise in his throat. Then, carefully, he puts his hand on Isaac’s shoulder. Isaac tenses up for a second, then relaxes slightly. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Peter gently squeezes his shoulder, and Isaac lets out a small sigh.

They stay like this for a long time, without a word, with just this simple, minimal physical contact that still managed to let through so many emotions. Then Isaac drops his forhead against Peter’s shoulder. Peter’s always been good with words, which means that he also knows when not to use any, so he just rubs his hand against Isaac’s back as the teenager starts to cry.

And sure eough, there are words at some point, mumbled, mangled, sometimes impossible to understand even with werewolf hearing. It fills Peter with impotant rage as he can’t take action to avenge his packmate, and the strong desire to protect him from further harm. 

He remembers now, that this is part of what having a real pack feels like, this protectiveness over each other. This is why Derek couldn’t kill Boyd and Cora, why he was ready to sacrifice himself for them, why he refused to accept that Erica was dead until he found her body. Isaac is clinging to his shirt now, his tears drying and his breathing coming back to normal as he’s finished pouring his heart out. He said he didn’t like him, said he didn’t trust him, but that had to be a lie, at least in part, otherwise Isaac wouldn’t have confided in him the way he just did. Peter holds him tight against his chest.

“We should get back,” he says after a little while. “Before my nephew worries himself sick over you. Alright?”

Isaac nods, and they get on their feet.

“You won’t tell him, right?”

Peter rolls his eyes. “Of course not. It’s your choice to tell him or to keep your pretty little mouth shut.”

“Do you _have_ to say it this way?” Isaac growns.

“Do you even know me at all?” Peter asks. “It’s like asking me if I _have_ to be snarky with Stiles.” He smirks when that gets him a small laugh from the teenager.

“He totally deserves it, that smart ass,” Isaac snorts.

Peter couldn’t agree more.


End file.
